I might also add that in many other states, the housing law is a bit more landlord-friendly. I moved from New York City, where you had quite a few ‘professional tenants’. These are people who knew the housing courts well enough to play them like a fiddle — living for months free while the landlord was trying to evict. Now, I’m not saying all these tenants were bad seeds — there were negligent landlords there too. I’ve no experience in California, but I’ve heard the housing courts here are relatively pro-tenant.
Anyway, I do pay for property managers. I might even do that if I lived locally, because I don’t want owning property to become a full-time job. I’ve already got one and don’t need to be bothered in the middle of the night because someone’s heat broke. That’s just me — I’d rather leave some money on the table for some peace of mind.
